NEW YORK — Clayton Kershaw retired the first 12 hitters he faced but had his second start since returning from a back injury halted by a second rain delay while Justin Turner produced the tiebreaking double with none out in the top of the ninth inning, lifting the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 2-0 victory over the New York Yankees on Wednesday.
Corey Seager opened the inning against Dellin Betances (3-5) when his one-hopper went off second baseman Starlin Castro’s glove for an error. Seager stole second on a 3-2 pitch to Turner and two pitches later, the third baseman doubled down the left field line.
Turner slid head first into second and his head collided with the back of Castro’s left leg. After getting looked at for a few minutes by manager Dave Roberts and a trainer, Turner advanced to third on Adrian Gonzalez’s fly ball to deep left field.
Turner then scored the second run on a throwing error by Betances. Yasmani Grandal hit a one-hopper to the first base side of the mound and Betances’ throw sailed over catcher Gary Sanchez’s glove as Turner slid home.
Luis Avilan (2-0) struck out pinch hitter Brian McCann to end the seventh with runners at first and second. He also struck out Jacoby Ellsbury to end the eighth after walking Brett Gardner.
Kenley Jansen retired Didi Gregorius as the potential tying run with a runner on second in the ninth and recorded his 44th save.
Kershaw needed only 44 pitches to get through the first four innings, which were interrupted by a 12-minute rain delay after the top of the fourth. In those innings, the left-hander had three strikeouts, six groundouts and three fly balls.
He lost his perfect game bid when Castro’s one-hopper deflected off the top of Turner’s glove and into left field for an error.
Two pitches later, Chase Headley ended Kershaw’s bid for his second no-hitter with a single to left field. After both runners were sacrificed over, Kershaw struck out Austin Romine and Tyler Austin to end the fifth.
Kershaw recorded five strikeouts without a walk, giving him 155 in his 129 innings this season. He finished the fifth after sitting through a 48-minute rain delay.
New York’s Michael Pineda did not return after the first delay. He allowed two hits in four scoreless innings while throwing 82 pitches.
The Dodgers had runners in on three of the four innings off Pineda but didn’t seriously threaten until the fourth. They had the bases loaded after Josh Reddick reached on catcher’s interference but Andre Ethier hit into a double play that ended with Pineda recording the second out while falling to a knee.
NOTES: The Yankees did not have an update on rookie RF Aaron Judge, who was getting an MRI on his strained right oblique. GM Brian Cashman, however, said he was likely out for the rest of the season. … The Yankees recalled OF Mason Williams from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre and manager Joe Girardi said he would put him in right field if needed. … Dodgers manager Dave Roberts announced the rest of his rotation for this weekend’s four-game series in Arizona. After LHP Rich Hill and RHP Kenta Maeda, RHPs Bud Norris and Jose De Leon will start the final two. … The schedule for the 2017 season was released Wednesday. The Yankees open at Tampa Bay on April 2, host Tampa Bay April 10 in their home opener and face the NL Central in interleague play. The Dodgers open the season at home against San Diego on April 3 and face the AL Central in interleague play.